Stupid

"Stupid"
Single by Phoenix Rising
from the album Eye Of The Beholder
Released	December 29th, 2008
Format	CD
Recorded	2008
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	4:32
Label	Saturdays
Writer(s)	A. Monaghan; J. Moss; V. Strong
Producer	Howard Benson
Certification	Silver
Phoenix Rising singles chronology

"Stupid" is a single by electro-rock band Phoenix Rising, the second taken from their debut album "Eye Of The Beholder". In contrast to the pop-rock sound of their debut single, "Stupid" features elements of trip-hop. The song was released on December 29th, 2008, charting in the UK at #9. The single was not as successful as its predecessor, but was another silver-certified hit for the band.

Background[edit | edit source]

"Stupid" was one of the later songs prepared for the band's debut album, one of James Moss' contributions to the record. Phoenix Rising worked with Howard Benson on the song, and they worked to give the song a downtempo, grungy sound with trip-hop rhythms. Lyrically, the song is about being smart and wanting not to become stupid in the face of love. The song was chosen to be their next single from the album prior to the announcement of its tracklisting. The band worked hard on the song's music video, bringing in guest appearances from Victor's younger sister Violetta, Alexei's older brother Sylar and Benji's then-girlfriend Dalisay.

Reception[edit | edit source]

After the success of "Rewritten", there was sustained interest in Phoenix Rising. "Stupid" premiered to strong critical reaction, and industry peers were mildly impressed. However, too much of the band's effort was focused on the video, and it was seen as a detriment to involve the band's family members; particular criticism came from the 'spin-off' aspect, as both Violetta and Sylar were working on their own careers at the time (Violetta as a solo act and Sylar with Schizophonic). Despite this, the song was still popular on radio and with buyers, becoming another top 10 hit for the band on both sales and airplay charts.

Tracklisting[edit | edit source]

Promo CD

"Stupid" (Radio Edit)
"Stupid" (Call-Out Hook)
"Stupid" (Mossman’s Mental Deficiency Radio Mix)

CD

"Stupid"
"Afraid"
"Stupid" (4Tune’s 4oolish Vocal Mix)
"Stupid" (Drop-A-Name Remix)

Music Video[edit | edit source]

The video opens outside a London hotel. Alexei and his brother Sylar meet up out front, Alexei looking around nervously.

SYLAR: You sure this is gonna work?

ALEXEI: It's got to. You weren't followed on your way here?

SYLAR: I don't think so, no.

Cut to a POV shot somewhere off a side street. The camera swings round to reveal Tobias, the police detective, watching the pair. Alexei and Sylar enter the hotel, and Tobias moves to follow as the song starts. As the intro plays, we see shots of Victor staring out of a window at a jailhouse on the other side of the street, and Ben walking down the rows of prison cells inside the building. We stop outside one, and the camera turns and zooms in to reveal James inside the cell. As the verse goes on, we see various shots of James pacing around the cell, lying on his bed, staring intensely at the camera as he sings. We zoom through the outer window of the cell to the street outside, where Victor is meeting up with Violetta and Dalisay. Victor looks around for a sign of trouble and finding none, begins to talk to the girls during the second half of the verse.

Elsewhere, Alexei and Sylar are in a hotel room looking over plans of the jail. One of the cells on the plan is marked with James' cell. As James sings the pre-chorus, we cut between shots of Tobias making his way to their room, and the Monaghans planning. Tobias finally reaches the room and kicks the door in, stepping inside only to find it empty, all their stuff gone, and the window is open, with breeze blowing through. He rushes to the window and watches as they run off, cursing to himself. During the chorus, Alexei and Sylar meet up with the others outside the jail. The Monaghans warn the others that they're being followed by a cop, so they need to move quickly. They all run off to the other side of the jail building where they split up to try and find a way inside.

During the first half of the verse, we follow Victor and Violetta, who are trying to sneak past a sleeping guard. They manage to steal his key and unlock the building, slipping inside right as a guard dog sniffs them and raises the alarm. They manage to hide just in time as the guard enters the unlocked door, searching for them. When they're clear, they leave this section of the jail and try to find another entrance. For the rest of the verse, we follow Dalisay, who managed to charm a guard (Ben) to let her inside in another wing of the jail. She begins to flirt with him, distracting him as Victor and Violetta find their way past the alerted guards to this part of the jail. They steal his set of jail keys and disappear into the rows of jail cells, Ben too busy with Dalisay to notice he's been tricked.

During the second pre-chorus, Tobias is alerted by phone that something is happening at the jail, and he is quick to get down there. While James sings the second chorus, he tries to find out from the guards what's going on, and he makes his way to the wing of the jail where Ben is. He finds Ben, flustered, and is not happy to learn that the guard's keys are missing. Dalisay is nowhere to be seen. Alexei and Sylar find James' cell during the bridge, and Alexei tries to converse with him, telling him of their plan to get him out. James sings the bridge back to Alexei. Sylar warns Alexei that they need to run, because Tobias has shown up, with his gun drawn and he is mad.

During the final chorus, Alexei and Sylar meet up with Victor and Violetta inside, avoiding Ben as they make their way to James' cell. They finally reach it, and let him out. He runs with them as they escape from the jail, meeting up with Ben and Dalisay outside. As it turns out, Ben was only impersonating a prison guard, as part of the plan. They all disappear into the night, as Tobias is arrested for impersonating a police officer. The final shot of the video that we see is Tobias sitting in the same cell James just vacated.

Chart Performance[edit | edit source]

It was speculated that the backlash for the band's music video (and its 'spin-off' criticisms) would hurt the chart performance of "Stupid" in the UK, but with their success from previous single "Rewritten" and the relative lack of competition it was able to become the band's second top 10 UK hit, landing at #9 - a position it held for two consecutive weeks. The single did not last as long on the chart as "Rewritten", but did become the band's second silver single. On the airplay charts it was another top 10 hit, benefitting from increased airplay to outstrip "Rewritten" in total spins, yet with a lower peak. Since the US operates much slower than the UK, "Stupid" was not released as a single in the States while "Rewritten" was still active. The US received "She" as the second single instead.